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Chipping and Slicing

Q: On your website I found techniques on how to cut freehand, club cutting and scissor over comb which I found very helpful.
Could you please describe the techniques for chipping and slicing?

A: Chipping and Slicing are terms that fall under the category of “synonymous terms”, meaning they are simply different names for a
technique you may already know. Sometimes the new names come about because a given technique is performed just slightly different from
the way it was originally learned and the stylist thinks he or she should differentiate the name in order to clarify and emphasize the
difference. Further explanation follows:

Chipping is, quite simply, point
cutting. The scissors are directed inward at an angle to cut angled pieces from the ends of a segment of hair. The term
chipping may have been coined as being different from “point cutting” because a particular stylist used a different angle for
performing what he/she calls “chipping”. Generally, “chipping” is done using a slightly shallower angle to make wider angles in the ends of the hair style.

Slicing – as it pertains to haircutting - is simply another term for “slithering” or “sliding”. The
haircutting shears are held in the cutting hand, slightly open, and guided along the length of a segment of hair with a slight pressure
and angle to “slice” away a varying amount of bulk from the hair segment – dependent upon the amount of pressure and the angle used.
The term “slicing” may have come about because a stylist was using the technique to remove larger amounts of hair than he or she felt
was normally removed in “slithering” and “sliding”, and so felt that a different term was in order.

I also want to note that the term “slicing” is also used in hair coloring. In this context, it is
a technique by which thin segments of hair (or slices) are isolated using a tail comb, applied with haircolor or lightening formula,
and covered using foil sheets to keep the colored hair from coming in contact with the rest of the hair. Depending on the size, and
placement of the “slices” and the type of color used, slicing can create either very natural-looking highlight and lowlight effects or very dramatic ones.